1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a portable storage device, and more particularly to a portable storage device capable of automatically running the biometrics application program. The invention also correlates to the commonly assigned patents: (a) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/998,722 (US20050144464A1), filed on Nov. 30, 2004, and entitled “MEMORY STORAGE DEVICE WITH A FINGERPRINT SENSOR AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING THE DATA THEREIN”; (b) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/115,212 (US20050244037A1), filed on Apr. 27, 2005 and entitled “PORTABLE ENCRYPTED STORAGE DEVICE WITH BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING THE DATA THEREIN”; and (c) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/131,276 (US20050210271A1), filed on May 18, 2005, and entitled “ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION KEY WITH PORTABLE APPLICATION PROGRAMS AND IDENTIFIED BY BIOMETRICS AUTHENTICATION”.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, the exhibit, such as an identification card, a driver's license, or the like, is the simplest way to represent the personal identification, and the personal photo, characters and numbers are recorded on the exhibit. However, the identification card can be easily counterfeited, and several criminal acts have been induced accordingly.
An advanced method is to utilize the magnetic-stripe card to record the personal data. Similarly, the advanced technology makes the magnetic-stripe card be easily cracked.
The newest method is to utilize the chip card to protect the personal data. Basically, the password protection is frequently used to protect the personal data of the memory chip. However, using the password to protect the personal data is troublesome because the user tends to forget the password and the password may also be easily copied and attacked.
Meanwhile, the above-mentioned device (exclusive of the chip card) for representing the personal identification only can execute a single function and a single application.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0110389 A1 discloses a personal ID electric device similar to a solid-state mobile disk, wherein the device contains encrypted personal data and can be directly connected to the computer system. However, this device has to be enabled after the password is checked and thus encounters the above-mentioned problems. A best way to solve the problem is to provide a complete and effective data protection method based on the identification of the biometrics features, such as the fingerprint, voice, signature, eye iris, and the like. The advantages are that the biometrics feature is always kept on the user and the user does not need to memorize the feature, the biometrics feature cannot be stolen, and the fingerprint biometrics feature protection method is strict and very convenient.
Recently, owing to the invention of the chip-type fingerprint sensor, the miniaturized electrical product incorporated with the fingerprint identification device becomes the technology that can be implemented. The associated technology can be found in the following patents to one of the inventors: (a) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/403,052 (US20030190061A1), filed on Apr. 1, 2003, entitled “CAPACITIVE FINGERPRINT SENSOR”; (b) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/434,833 (US20030215976A1), filed on May 13, 2003, entitled “PRESSURE TYPE FINGERPRINT SENSOR FABRICATION METHOD”; (c) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/414,214 (US20040208345A1), filed on Apr. 16, 2003, and entitled “THERMOELECTRIC SENSOR FOR FINGERPRINT THERMAL IMAGING”; and (d) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/638,371 (US20040046574A1), filed on Aug. 12, 2003, and entitled “CAPACITIVE MICRO PRESSURE SENSING MEMBER AND FINGERPRINT SENSOR USING THE SAME”. Thus, span personal applications, such as the portable electrical products with the fingerprint identification function, have been developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,985 issued on Apr. 15, 1986 has disclosed a personal data protection method, in which the personal data stored in the ID card device is protected by way of fingerprint authentication. The protected data stored in the card device can be outputted for the subsequent processing or authentication procedures only after the fingerprint identification procedure passes. The dimension of this device is the same as that of the generally used credit card. This device, which is a completely independent fingerprint identification device because the fingerprint capture and identification are performed in the same device, includes a fingerprint sensor, an image processing and identification module, and a memory.
Similarly, EP124079A1 also discloses a data protection concept similar to the '985 patent except that the communication interface thereof is a golden finger interface used in a SD card. In addition, the memory device of the '079 patent has a fingerprint identification module, and the data protection concept is the same as the '018 patent. Similarly, US2001/0023375A1 also discloses a method of protecting the data stored in the hard disk or flash disk according to the fingerprint identification.
WO 02/42887A2 patent discloses a data protection concept similar to the '985 patent and '079 patent except that the device of the '887 patent communicates the terminal system through the USB interface. This device is similar to the flash memory hard disk popularized in the current market except for the independent fingerprint processing and identifying module.
U.S. Patent publication number 2003/005337 discloses the data protection concept of an independent fingerprint identification module, which is the same as the '985 and '079 patents, and utilizes the USB as the communication interface, which is the same as that disclosed in the '887 patent. Similarly, the device of '337 patent is also an independent fingerprint identification device.
GB2387933 patent also discloses an independent fingerprint identification device, which has a concept and device design almost similar to those of the '887 and '337 patents, wherein the fingerprint capture and identification are performed in the same device.
Heretofore, in the above-mentioned fingerprint identification devices, the '985 patent discloses the application to the personal identification card, while the other patents are only used to protect data.
In addition, the basic requirement of the above-mentioned portable storage devices with the fingerprint identification function is to facilitate the user to connect one of these storage devices to various computer systems. However, even if the USB interface is used, the fingerprint related application program still has to be manually executed in the computer system first before it is used such that the computer system can provide a human-machine interface for the user. The conventional method is to provide an optical disk to execute the fingerprint related application program and enable the storage device to be used. In this case, each time when the computer systems are firstly set, the user has to carry the portable storage device together with the optical disk so that he or she can use the storage device in other computer systems.
To sum up, the object of the above-mentioned prior arts is to provide a storage device for protecting data stored therein by way of fingerprint identification. When the device is used, the user has to execute the fingerprint application software in the terminal system in advance. Thus, the fingerprint application program of the storage device cannot be conveniently used in a plug-and-play manner over various computers.
Thus, the Ser. No. 10/998,722 application discloses a storage device capable of enabling the operation system of the terminal system to automatically run the fingerprint application program by simulating a specific block of the memory module as a CD-ROM booting area, in which the fingerprint application program is stored, so as to achieve the function of automatically running the application program.
The Ser. No. 11/131,276 application also discloses a storage device having a fingerprint sensor and several portable application programs to serve as an electronic ID key for representing a personnel's ID. The ID key can be used in various terminal systems by automatically running the fingerprint application program.
In addition, the Ser. No. 11/115,212 patent discloses a hard drive, which can be plugged and played over various computers according to the advantage of automatically running the fingerprint application program in the above-mentioned two applications.
To extend the innovation technology, the invention provides methods of dividing the storage space and automatically running the biometrics application program in a portable storage device.